Michelle Elam
The Hapa project is a multiracial identity project by Kip Fulbeck
Fulbeck photographed over 1200 volunteer subjects who self identified as hapa (which he defined as mixed ethnic heritage with partial roots in Asain or Pacific Islander ancestry).
Fulbeck photographed over 1200 volunteer subjects who self identified as hapa (which he defined as mixed ethnic heritage with partial roots in Asain or Pacific Islander ancestry).
Each individual was photographed in a similar minimalist style, directly head on, unclothed from the shoulders up and without jewelry, glasses or purposeful expression.
After being photographed the participants identified their ethnicity in their own words then handwrit their response to "what are you?"
"I am not half-White. I am not half-Asian. I am a whole "other".
The Hapa Project aims:
- To give a voice to multi-racial, multi-ethnic individuals.
- To dispel myths of exotism, hybrid vigor and racial homogeneity
- To foster positive identity formation and self image
- To encourage solidarity and empowerment
"It is very convenient to categorise people according to race. It is also extremely inaccurate"
"Identity is a personal process, not one made by a community a government or anyone else".
After being photographed the participants identified their ethnicity in their own words then handwrit their response to "what are you?"
"I am not half-White. I am not half-Asian. I am a whole "other".
The Hapa Project aims:
- To give a voice to multi-racial, multi-ethnic individuals.
- To dispel myths of exotism, hybrid vigor and racial homogeneity
- To foster positive identity formation and self image
- To encourage solidarity and empowerment
"It is very convenient to categorise people according to race. It is also extremely inaccurate"
"Identity is a personal process, not one made by a community a government or anyone else".
19th Century Ideals of Beauty
A lot of things have changed since the 19th century. When Barkham Burroughs wrote his Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information in 1889, he devoted a full chapter to the "secrets of beauty," which he entitled 'How to be Handsome.'
The jump from mixed race identity to the 19th century is based on a personal childhood memory in which I learned that women would drink vinegar to make their skin pale. Fifteen years later, whilst researching this memory to find out more, I found Burroughs' encyclopedia which provided a compreshensive list of instructions to encourage women to "fix" and "correct" ill pleasing features, this includes but is not limited to skin, body shape and cleanliness.
The jump from mixed race identity to the 19th century is based on a personal childhood memory in which I learned that women would drink vinegar to make their skin pale. Fifteen years later, whilst researching this memory to find out more, I found Burroughs' encyclopedia which provided a compreshensive list of instructions to encourage women to "fix" and "correct" ill pleasing features, this includes but is not limited to skin, body shape and cleanliness.
From this stimulus I have followed many of Burroughs' instructions on how to be handsome, and ordered the instructions in a way that will provide a interesting aesthetic. For instance using bicarbonate powder on the teeth is supposed to be used on a separate occasion to the consumption of vinegar, but I have deliberately attempted to consume them together to create a foaming effect as the sodium bicarbonate reacts to the vinegar. I vomit a pool of white foam that for a split second suggests my bodies repulsion or refusal to accept white ideals of beauty. My mixed race body cannot contain the corrosive substances. Whilst my body will not contain it my mind will not accept that achieving a white ideal of beauty is impossible. The result is an internal conflict between desire and failure driven on by overriding ambition.